From launching their own social enterprises, or spreading awareness about a critical issue, young Canadians are making a positive impact on their community every day and getting involved in the issues that are close to their hearts.

Meridian’s Commitment to Communities Sean Jackson Scholarship recognizes and rewards community initiative, innovation and impact among Ontario youth. Each year, we award one leading post-secondary scholarship to a high school graduate who has demonstrated both academic excellence and an outstanding commitment to communities of their own. This year’s winner is Luca Ramelli, a Hamilton resident and inspiring young leader.

Luca is passionate about improving people’s health by creating innovative solutions to complex healthcare problems. He takes an inclusive and design thinking approach to solving problems, always focusing on the needs of vulnerable people in his community.

Through his own initiative, Luca led a project that reduces the risk of falls in seniors when they are discharged from the hospital. Luca worked with an inter-professional team, including patients, to develop a prototype augmented reality solution that enables healthcare professionals to analyze pictures of a patient’s setting, interact with the picture, and to educate the patient on how to change their home environment to reduce their risks of falls.

Watch this video to learn more about the augmented reality app Luca helped create.

What’s more, Luca is a talented athlete and has spent the last four years as a volunteer coach with Hamilton Challenger Baseball Association (HCBA), which provides social and recreational activities for individuals with cognitive and physical challenges.

His time spent as a volunteer coach has led him to become a passionate advocate for inclusivity on the national stage. Luca helped HCBA successfully garner grants from both the Jays Care Foundation and the City of Hamilton for significant upgrades to a local park and baseball diamond to make the public space more accessible – allowing for player inclusion and independence. “I feel so lucky to be able to coach these amazing athletes.“ says Luca. “Their perseverance, team spirit and passion for the game are truly inspiring!”

Because of Luca’s dedicated service to the players he coaches, the Jays Care Foundation nominated him to be a youth delegate for the 2017 National Summit for the Canadian Children’s Charter- a national charter designed to protect the rights of our country’s children and youth.

Luca is also a passionate and accomplished musician, who creates original compositions and volunteers to play for medically complex and palliative care patients in Hamilton Health Sciences Hospitals. Luca knows firsthand the power music can have on improving quality of life for patients in critical and end of life care.

To learn more about Luca’s passion for music, watch this video.

In September, Luca will continue his education at Queen’s University in September where he has been accepted into the Queen’s University Accelerated Route to Medical School (QuARMS) program. The QuARMS program offers 10 high school students the opportunity to apply for admission to Queen’s School of Medicine at the end of two years of undergraduate study, enabling them the opportunity to finish their Medical Degree (MD) just six years after finishing high school.

On behalf of Meridian Members and employees, we congratulate Luca for his inspiring commitment to community!

The Meridian Sean Jackson Scholarship will be accepting applications for 2020 as of March 1st until April 30th. If you are interested in learning more, please visit www.meridiancu.ca/scholarship for details.

LIKE THIS

SHARE THIS

About Lauren Fitzgerald

Lauren is Meridian’s Community Investment Specialist. She is part of the team focused on adding value to our 2,000+ employees, 270,000+ Members and millions in our local communities by developing and managing programs and partnerships that reflect Meridian’s longstanding Commitment to Communities. Learn more at MERIDIANCU.CA/COMMUNITY.